Ornontowice
29 December 2007
Appeal
On behalf of the entire Strike Committee of the “Budryk” Coal Mine Co. (KWK “Budryk” S.A. in the town of Ornontowice, Upper Silesia region) we are circulating this urgent request for help.
Since December 13th 2007 there has been an ongoing labor protest action at the KWK “Budryk” – an independent coal mine owned by the Polish State Treasury. The protest had begun with a hunger strike of four mine workers and two foremen, intended to put pressure on the mine’s Board of Directors and have them start collective-bargaining talks. On December 17th the Board’s spokesperson said in a TV interview that mine management will not start any negotiations with the striking workers. As a result, the production-process staff unanimously agreed to start an unlimited strike. The basis for the strikers’ grievances includes wage and welfare benefits below national averages subject to collective bargaining.
The Polish government’s planning document entitled Strategy for Mining Industry, 2007-2015, states that the “Budryk” mine is to be incorporated into the structures of a larger company, the Jastrzebska Spolka Weglowa S.A. In two recent employee referenda, however, workers clearly rejected the labor conditions precipitated by these proposed changes. Despite this, the Budryk mine management continued with the restructuring plans ignoring workers’ demands to maintain independence and autonomy. This was seen as violation of law and led to the current strike situation. Due to the contributions of mine workers of Burdyk, the company’s profit margin soared to 45 million PLN in 2007 (more than 11 million Euro). As a result of this and other performance measures, analysts rank Budryk among the top three coal mines in the nation. In addition, work efficiency is, on average, twice as high when compared to other enterprises within the Polish coal mining industry. Despite these facts, Budryk coal miners earn the lowest wages in the sector. Their case for better wages is not being considered by management of either company. This unfortunate decision by management and related lack of negotiation has resulted in losses in productivity, reduced annual profits, material deprivation of miners and their families during the holidays, and prolonged the strike unnecessarily.
In view of these circumstances, we ask all miners and people of goodwill to support our protest. We demand an increase in our wages reflecting those of the Jastrzebska Spolka Weglowa. We are particularly focusing on the wages of front line workers whose lives and health are most endangered due to their jobs. We demand, furthermore, that all miners of Poland who are involved in the production process should receive similar wages due to the extremely dangerous conditions in the mines. As employees of state-owned companies, we also believe that it is inappropriate and illogical to connect wage scales to mine efficiency, since the latter depends to large degree on random factors such as coal’s natural occurrence.
Due to the crises we now have at hand, we kindly request your financial support for the striking coal miners and their families who are being forced to put an end to their demands and return to their exploitative arrangements as a result of extreme material deprivation they experienced over the holidays (each striking day is unpaid). We appreciate your financial assistance, so that we can encourage negotiations with mine management to improve wages for our miners and those nationwide.
Defending our mine as well as struggling for decent living conditions for our families, we have spent Christmas and New Year striking. We shall not surrender. If we are defeated today, tomorrow a similar defeat may become another’s fate.
Let’s prove that international workers solidarity is not an empty slogan.
Individuals and institutions who are prepared to support financially the families of the striking miners are requested to make payments to the following account:
account: ZZ Kadra
BIC: POLU PL PR
IBAN: PL 23 8454 1053 2001 0041 5426 0001
with the annotation: “Support fund for families of striking miners of Budryk”
Name of bank: Orzesko-Knurowski Bank Spółdzielczy oddział Ornontowice
On behalf of the Strike Committee of the Coal Mine “Budryk”
Krzysztof Łabądź
Let us struggle for dignity and pride of the hard job of MINERS!
Together we are One and we shall win!
God bless! [a traditional greeting of Polish miners]
Committee of the striking staff
at the KWK “Budryk” S.A.
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